Williams Overcomes Injury Scare as Federer, Murray Win

Serena Williams overcame an ankle
injury to shut out her first-round opponent at the Australian
Open. Defending women’s champion Victoria Azarenka, Roger Federer and Andy Murray also advanced.

Williams, the No. 3 seed from the U.S., began her quest for
a third straight Grand Slam tennis singles title by overpowering
Edina Gallovits-Hall of Romania 6-0, 6-0 yesterday. The 15-time
major champion fell to the court in pain in the first set after
her ankle buckled while she ran for a baseline shot.

The 31-year-old Williams, the bookmakers’ favorite to
secure the title at Melbourne Park after winning her previous 16
matches, vowed to not let the injury affect her bid for a sixth
Australian Open singles championship. Her second-round match is
scheduled for Jan. 17, against Spain’s Garbine Muguruza.

“Unless something fatal happens to me, there’s no way I’m
not going to be competing,” Williams said in a news conference.
“I’m alive. My heart’s beating. I’ll be fine.”

Men’s No. 3 Murray won his first Grand Slam match as a U.S.
Open champion by beating Robin Haase of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-
1, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena, where second-seeded Federer of
Switzerland closed play during the day session with a 6-2, 6-4,
6-1 victory against France’s Benoit Paire.

“I’m obviously very happy with this first-round match, so
total control,” said four-time winner Federer, who didn’t play
any warm-up events before Melbourne for the first time since
2008.

Murray, a 25-year-old Briton, is seeking to become the only
first-time Grand Slam winner to claim a second title at the next
opportunity.

“I’ve often had to look at majors, having lost in finals
or having lost in tough semifinals,” Murray, a two-time
Australian Open runner-up, told reporters. “It’s nice to have
that memory of having won one.”

Federer faces former world No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko of
Russia in the next round while Murray plays Portugal’s Joao
Sousa.

Williams was leading 4-0, 0-15 when she hurt her ankle. She
stayed on the court for more than a minute with her hands over
her face before being helped to her chair to get treatment from
a trainer.

Heavy Taping

Playing with heavy taping on her right ankle, she only lost
one more point in closing out the first set and took the second
set in 21 minutes, winning 52 total points to 18 for her
opponent, who struck one winner in the match.

“When I was injured, I just thought, just relax,” said
Williams. “I just started swinging freely.”

Azarenka of Belarus, who won her only major title 12 months
ago in Melbourne, recovered from 0-3 down in the second set to
defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu 6-1, 6-4.

“The second set was a little bit of a struggle, but I’m
glad to still be here,” Azarenka said in a televised courtside
interview.

World No. 63 Jamie Hampton upset Urszula Radwanska, the No.
31 seed from Poland, 6-2, 6-4. Hampton, one of 10 Americans
ranked inside the top 100 on the women’s tour, also reached the
second round last year.

Wu Makes History

Women’s No. 7 seed Sara Errani of Italy earlier became the
highest seed to fall so far in the opening round, losing 6-4, 6-
4 to Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain. Twelfth-seeded Nadia Petrova
of Russia only won two games against Japan’s Kimiko Date-Krumm,
who at age 42 became the oldest woman to win a singles match in
tournament history.

“I’m playing for fun, but I like the game,” Date-Krumm, a
former world No. 4 who made her Grand Slam debut at the 1989
French Open when Petrova was seven years old, told reporters.
“I don’t want to lose.”

Wu Di, ranked 186th, became the first man from China to
play singles in any Grand Slam event since tennis turned
professional in 1968. Wu, who earned a wild card spot by winning
the Australian Open’s Asian qualifying tournament, lost to
Croatia’s Ivan Dodig in four sets. China’s men have been
upstaged by the women, with the sixth-seeded Li becoming the
first Asian player to win a Grand Slam singles final at the 2011
French Open.

Kvitova Victory

Eighth-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic downed
2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy in three
sets. Caroline Wozniacki, the 10th seed from Denmark who was the
world No. 1 a year ago, fought back from a set and 0-3 down in
the third to beat Sabine Lisicki of Germany 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Other women’s seeds to win included No. 29 Sloane Stephens
of the U.S. and 14th-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia.

American Melanie Oudin, a 2009 U.S. Open quarterfinalist,
lost to Britain’s Laura Robson 6-2, 6-3.

Men’s No. 6 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina dropped only
five games in a straight-set victory against Adrian Mannarino of
France. No. 19 Tommy Haas, a double semifinalist from Germany,
lost in five sets to Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen.

Former Wimbledon quarterfinalist Bernard Tomic, one of nine
Australian men in the singles draw, moved to the second round by
beating Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer in straight sets. Tomic,
ranked 43rd, had warmed up for Melbourne by winning his first
Tour title in Sydney last week after struggling with his form
last season.

Seventh-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2008 final at Melbourne Park, beat fellow
Frenchman Michael Llodra in straight sets to advance. No. 9 seed
Richard Gasquet, No. 14 Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils, all from
France, also moved to the next round.